JPH09162995A - Remote conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily specify in which terminal of a conference member present is speaking in terms of eyesight and auditory sense in a video conference system displaying the videos of the conference members present in the other terminals on a screen in a window system. SOLUTION: Respective terminal information acquired from the microphones 1, video cameras 2 and display position acquirement parts 3 in the terminals a to c are transmitted to a server part. Video information are gathered in one and it becomes whole terminal video information by a video connection part 6 and sound information are stereo (image)-processed in an image generation part 7 based on the display coordinate of the video window of the other terminal in the respective terminals and they become whole terminal image information for the respective terminals in respective terminal information. Whole terminal video information and whole terminal image information are transmitted to the terminals a to c. Video information 18 displayed on the corresponding video window by 8 video display part 10 and image information is reproduced from an L speaker 11 and an R speaker 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a teleconferencing method between a plurality of terminals connected to each other via a communication network, and more particularly to displaying video images of other terminals on a screen in a window format. The present invention relates to a video image / sound image synchronization method in a video conferencing system in which the audio of the above is output from a speaker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter also simply referred to as “personal computers”), engineering workstations, etc., which are mutually connected via a communication network, have been used to display video images of other terminals on the screen. 2. Description of the Related Art A personal computer video conferencing system is known that displays a window format and outputs the sound of another terminal from a speaker.

In this type of conventional teleconferencing system, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10742/1992,
Assign a unique identification number to each terminal participating in the conference,
There is a method of determining the localization of the sound image according to the position of the identification number of all terminals participating in the conference.

[0004]

However, in the conventional teleconferencing method described in the above publication, when the video image of another terminal is displayed in a window format on the screen of the terminal, it is displayed on the screen. Since the sound image is created regardless of the display position of the video image window, the display position of the video image does not match the sound image, and it is difficult to identify the terminal (conference participant) who is speaking. .

Further, in the conventional remote conference system, since the sound image created from the voice of each terminal is fixed in the entire video conference system, when the video image window is moved on the screen by the user's operation. However, there is a problem in that the sound image of the conference participant displayed in the video image window is not changed, and the video image and the sound image cannot be synchronized.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the display position on the screen of the video image window and the sound image thereof are matched so that the conference participant of which terminal is currently speaking. It is an object of the present invention to provide a teleconferencing method that can easily identify visually whether visually or auditorily.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides one or more of the above-mentioned one or a plurality of video image windows according to the display position on the screen of one or a plurality of video image windows for displaying an image of a conference participant. The present invention provides a teleconferencing method characterized by performing stereo (sound image) processing on the voices of conference participants displayed in the video image window.

Further, the present invention provides a remote conference system in which a plurality of video image windows are displayed on respective screens of a plurality of terminals, and images of conference participants of other terminals are displayed by the plurality of video image windows. Means for acquiring the display positions on the screen of a plurality of video image windows for each terminal, and conference participants of other terminals displayed in the plurality of video image windows according to the display positions acquired by the means. And a means for performing stereo (sound image) processing on voice information.

According to the remote conference system of the present invention, a sound image is created for each terminal in accordance with the display position of the video image window of another terminal displayed on the screen, so that the image is displayed in the video image window. By appropriately adjusting the direction in which the voices of the conference participants are heard, the display position of the video image and its sound image can be synchronized in real time.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a remote conference system (personal computer video conference system) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the personal computer video conference system according to the present embodiment comprises a server unit and terminals a to c. The server unit and the terminals a to c are connected via a transmission line.

Each of the terminals a to c has a microphone 1 for collecting the voices of the participants of the conference, a video camera 2 for photographing the participants of the conference, and a video position of a video image window displayed on the screen of the terminal. The display position acquisition unit 3 acquired from the video display unit 10, the audio information, the video information, and the display coordinates of each video image window obtained from the microphone 1, the video camera 2, and the display position acquisition unit 3 are transmitted to the server unit. The own terminal information transmission part 4 is included.

Further, each of the terminals a to c displays all terminal information receiving section 9 for receiving all terminal information transmitted from the server section and a video image of each terminal in a video image window corresponding to the terminal. Video image display unit 10 for
And left and right L speakers 11 and R for reproducing sound images of all terminals
And a speaker 12.

On the other hand, the server unit collects each terminal information receiving unit 5 which receives each terminal information transmitted from each of the terminals a to c and each terminal image information of the received terminal information into one. The image combining unit 6, the sound image creating unit 7 that performs stereo (sound image) processing on the audio information based on the display coordinates of the video image windows of the other terminals on the screens of the terminals a to c, the image combining unit 6, and the sound image. An all-terminal information transmitting unit 8 that transmits all-terminal image information and all-terminal sound image information obtained from each of the creating units 7 to each of the terminals a to c;
including.

Next, the operation of the personal computer video conference system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, each of the terminals a to c acquires audio information, video information, and display coordinates of each video video window from the microphone 1, the video camera 2, and the display position acquisition section 3, respectively, and uses them as each terminal information. Terminal information transmitter 4
Is transmitted to each terminal information receiving unit 5 of the server unit. Each terminal information is transmitted to each terminal information receiving unit 5 of the server unit via the transmission line.

Of the terminal information transmitted to the server unit,
The image information of each terminal is combined into one by the image combining unit 6 to become the image information of all terminals. Further, the sound information of each terminal is subjected to stereo (sound image) processing in the sound image creating unit 7 and becomes all terminal sound image information for each terminal. That is, for example, all the terminal sound image information transmitted to the terminal a is stereo (sound image) based on the display coordinates of the video image window displaying the video image of the conference participant of the other terminal displayed on the screen of the terminal a. Processing is performed.

For the stereo (sound image) processing, a known method described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-318327 can be used.

The all-terminal image information and all-terminal sound image information created by the server section are transmitted from the all-terminal information transmitting section 8 to all-terminal information receiving sections 9 of the terminals a to c via the transmission line.

Each of the terminals a to c displays the received video information on the corresponding video video window by the video video display unit 10 based on the information of the display position acquisition unit 3, and at the same time, the stereo (sound image) information is sent to the L speaker. 11, R
Playback is performed from each of the speakers 12.

In the personal computer video conferencing system according to this embodiment, the sound image information of each terminal is created from the sound information of each terminal in the server unit, but the sound information of each terminal is simply generated in the server unit. May be combined into one and transmitted to each terminal, and a sound image may be created on the side of each transmitted terminal.

In the personal computer video conference system according to this embodiment, the case where the video image window of another terminal is displayed on the screen of each terminal has been described, but the video image window of the other terminal is displayed together with the video image window of the other terminal. Of course, the window may be displayed.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment and includes various embodiments according to the principle of the present invention.

[0025]

As described above, according to the remote conference system of the present invention, the display position of the video image window on the screen and the sound image thereof match, so that the conference participant of which terminal is currently speaking. It is possible to easily identify visually whether it is present or not.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a remote conference system (personal computer video conference system) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Microphone 2 Video camera 3 Display position acquisition unit 4 Own terminal information transmission unit 5 Each terminal information reception unit 6 Video combination unit 7 Sound image creation unit 8 All terminal information transmission unit 9 All terminal information reception unit 10 Video image display unit 11 L speaker 12 R speaker

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. According to the display position on the screen of one or a plurality of video image windows for displaying images of conference participants,
A teleconferencing system characterized in that sound image processing is applied to the voices of the conference participants displayed in the one or more video image windows. 2. A teleconferencing system in which a plurality of video image windows are displayed on respective screens of a plurality of terminals, and the images of conference participants of other terminals are displayed by the plurality of video image windows. Means for acquiring the display position on the screen of the video image window of, and a sound image in the audio information of the conference participants of the other terminals displayed in the plurality of video image windows according to the display position acquired by the means. A teleconferencing method characterized by including means for performing processing.